A masked Palestinian gunman holds a handmade rocket launcher in Gaza during the funeral of Mustafa Sabah, who was killed by an Israeli air strike, December 5, 2002. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) has approved plans that would seal off northern Israel from the West Bank by extending a security fence to defend against Palestinian attacks, government officials said. (Oleg Popov/Reuters)

You say you avoided history and politics. That must be the reason for your views. You should really educate yourself on this stuff, and in a fair way (not just swallowing the CNN rubbish you seem to be repeating). Read some good authors. You've already had recommendations from other posters. Read Bernard Lewis, too.

As for the Native Americans fighting an insurrection to recover America (sounds interesting, but unfortunately there's only about 35 left in my tribe -- maybe we should have tried earlier ?) -- isn't this what the Palestinians are doing ? They say they are fighting to reclaim land that they claim is historically theirs (whether this is true is in dispute) but which was lost in a war that the Arabs started -- why should Israel be obligated to give this land back ?

Arafat is dead. Move on. Even Barghouti denounces him. He is the poster boy for the UN. Terror, Inc.

Re: the demographic shift you see coming; The Jews would be prudent to use "bulldozing" on the poor, oppressed Palis. That the arab-israeli population would also have to be moved out is not necessarily going to happen. I believe many arabs would relish living in peace and ending the hostilities but

I just don;t think a timeframe exists where that can happen.

We are dangling on the edge of the fulfillment of the Book of Revelations. That may help you set your filter when I attempt to convey my beliefs in these matters.

I am not even going to pretend to be an expert on anything at all, all I know is what I see coming. All the rest of this stuff about settlements, intifada, attacks will fall to the wayside soon for this peace. Beware of this temporary peace.. you allude to that being what you want to see.

It moves us one step closer to the revealment of mysteries that have dogged mankind for thousands of years.

Someday soon, we all may know. In the mean time, we must do the best we can and pray that the terrorists are caught and eliminated. Comparing the plight of the Palestinian people with what the Jews have suffered, irregardless of the events of the Middle Ages, it still does not match the Diaspora. The Birth of Israel and the restoral of Jerusalem to Jewish ownership are. Of course, the Arabs forget who was there before them, and now is back again making the deserts bloom.

Thanks for the exchange. We'll see if Israel goes for Mitzna or keeps Sharon. Then, we'll know which way the wind is blowing.

I don;t think the old Israelis would want to deal with the PLA or PLO or Hamas or Hezbollah. Maybe the Arab-Israelis would. They can;t breed fast enough is my point. They sacrifice their young in the pursuit of false dreams and following corrupt leaders.

OK -- just think to yourself what you see now. You see an Israel where Muslims and Christians live there, have all the same rights as Jews and serve in the government, etc. You see any Arab country -- take your pick -- where Jews and Christians are not allowed (Judenfrei in Hitler lingo). Which country is democratic? Which ones aren't? You have to use your common sense here. You cannot take a moral-equivalence position. One culture celebrates life, the other death. One society severely punishes those who transgress against others. One society celebrates these people and rewards their families with thousands of dollars -- a lot of money over there.

The Palestinians were not kicked out of anywhere, as others have posted. They are in camps 50 years later because it suited Arab countries to keep them there. Those that did not run away were invited to stay and be part of Israel (not to say that this was 100% accepted by all the Israelis, but it was the government position and strongly enforced by the government).

Not to denigrate your hard work in obtaining your degrees -- it is a feat. But think about campuses and the education you got. Full of post-modernist, moral-equivalent propaganda, which is fine except that it went totally unchallenged probably in an academic environment that was politically correct in the extreme. It is no wonder that you are thinking the way you do. You virtually have to re-educate yourself, and I say this as the mother of two sons who are doing the same, that is, reading widely the many intellectually supportable and clear views that contradict all the brainwashing they received from their professors. You will see which arguments hold water when you do this, and it's nice to see you express a willingness to read some of the books posters have recommended. That one by the woman who started out to write a pro-Palestinian view and ended up on the other side sounds like a good start. I think I'll get that one myself. It is so rare that authors with a certain ideology are open enough and intellectually honest enough to change their views when their research points in that direction.

Ronald McDonald buried in Jenin

JENIN, Israeli-0ccupied Palestine-December 8th. Palestinian Militants carry the dead body of Ronald McDonald to a pauper's grave outside of Jenin. McDonald, late of West Covina, California, had moved to the Palestinian refugee camp after the Israeli invasion in April. Shortly thereafter, he opened a McDonald's restaurant with a loan from a Saudi holding company.

Ronald McDonald in happier times

Palestinian sources indicated that McDonald had been denounced as an Israeli spy by Hamas militants who run a 7-11 Convenience Store in the neighborhood. McDonald was killed Thursday evening by two Palestinian assailants wielding a flamethrower and a white phosphorous grenade. One assailaint administered the "coup de gras" to Mr. McDonald's smoking corpse with what appears to be a round from a 9mm Makarov automatic pistol.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.